5-Day Meal Plan: Feed your pasta cravings with light, summery flavors

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5 easy pasta recipes for summer days when you don't feel like cooking

Cooking during the week can get so stressful — there are always so many options, but too many of them take way too long to cook. I don’t ever want to be in the kitchen for more than an hour after work, because then that means not eating dinner until 8 o’clock. Thinking of that alone makes me want to just grab a granola bar and some fruit and eat that for dinner. Luckily for you, you’ll have a much heartier dinner, because we have a five-day, pasta-filled meal plan that will blow your mind. In this week’s meal plan, you’ll have five totally different pasta dishes using some of the same ingredients in more than one dish.

To me, pasta is such a blank canvas — you start off with pasta, add veggies, meat or seafood, sauce, and you have an amazing meal in under 30 minutes. That’s why I love it. You can have pasta five times a week and have a totally different meal every single day. For this meal plan, we take some core ingredients — pasta, shrimp, chicken, lemon, garlic and arugula — and create five unique meals using these ingredients more than once during the week.

You’ll be enjoying arugula in your pasta twice this week, but with very different preparations (raw arugula tossed in with cherry tomatoes to finish, and arugula pesto — yum). You’ll also have the chance to try two spring-inspired shrimp pasta dishes (one with artichokes and pancetta, and another with spinach and lemon). All are very different dishes that will save you money on groceries and time in the kitchen.

You can also customize any of these recipes to your liking. If you have more shrimp on hand, then use it in three of the dishes instead of two. If you’re not a huge fan of artichokes, then sub it out for your favorite veggie. My motto is simply, eat what you want to eat.

The goal of this meal plan is to eat healthier where and when you can as well as save money on dinner. With these five recipes, you’ll be doing just that.

Meal plan for week of June 20

Artichoke-shrimp pasta

Shrimp and spinach pasta

One-skillet extra-creamy pasta with garlic chicken

Garlic chicken pasta with arugula

Pasta with arugula pesto and grilled chicken

Meal plan grocery list:

Fresh artichokes

4 lemons

Pancetta or bacon

Garlic cloves

1 pound shrimp

Dry white wine

Pasta (the artichoke-shrimp pasta calls for paccheri; the shrimp and spinach pasta calls for pasta shells; the one-skillet pasta calls for cavatappi; and the pasta with pesto calls for spaghetti)

Fresh parsley

1 (8-ounce) bag frozen cooked shrimp

Baby spinach

Parmesan cheese

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Chicken stock

Whole milk

Cream cheese

Sun-dried tomatoes

Yellow onion

Cherry tomatoes

Baby arugula

Walnuts

Cherry tomatoes

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Extra-virgin olive oil

Though all of these recipes call for different types of pasta, you don’t have to buy every type. If you go to the market and it's having a sale on a particular brand or type of pasta, just buy multiple boxes of that one — it’ll save you a few extra dollars. And if you’re like me, you always have pasta on hand at home, so just use whatever you have in your pantry.

Artichoke-shrimp pasta recipe

For this recipe, I combined the sautéed artichokes with shrimp and toasted pancetta. The result is so, so good. I promise you will not be disappointed and that this dish is completely worth the effort. Buon appetito! — Rowena Dumlao-Giardina

Shrimp and spinach pasta recipe

There are so many things you can do with shrimp and spinach. You can sauté them, you can bake them into a casserole, or you can throw them together with some citrus fruits for a delicious salad. But one of the easiest things you can do is add them to some pasta shells with cheese for a quick dinner. — Jennifer Richmond

One-skillet extra-creamy pasta with garlic chicken recipe

The beauty of this one-pot pasta dish is that it's packed full of garlicky chicken, fresh baby spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, giving it tons of flavor in hardly any time. It's simple, delicious and ready in just about 30 minutes. — Brandy O’Neill

Pasta with arugula pesto and grilled chicken recipe

This dinner recipe for pasta with arugula pesto and grilled chicken incorporates arugula in place of basil in this delicious dish. Fire up the grill for the chicken, and put on the pasta, because these two ingredients go perfectly with pesto! This is an easy meal to toss together. — Patricia Conte